Rose is any of a large group of flowers that rank among the most popular in the world. People value roses for their beauty and for the sweet fragrance of many varieties. Wild roses commonly grow in gardens and parks. Rose breeders have developed thousands of cultivated rose varieties. Many states and nations—including England, Iran, and the United States—honor the rose as their official flower.
Roses come in many colors, including shades of pink, red, yellow, white, and even lavender. Some types, such as the teas and hybrid teas, smell like tea or fruit. Others have a fragrant “rose” scent, while still others possess little odor.
Attar, an oil from rose petals, can serve as an ingredient in toilet water and perfumes. The fruits of some rose plants, called hips, are used in jellies and other preserves and in tea. Rose hips can also add attractive fall and winter color to the landscape.
Roses grow in numerous habitats and soils, but they prefer mild climates or temperate climates, which have warm summers and cold winters. Countries that export the most roses as cut flowers include Colombia, Ecuador, Israel, Kenya, and the Netherlands.
Types of roses.
Horticulturists (experts on flowers and other plants) divide roses into three basic groups. They are: (1) species roses (wild roses), (2) old garden roses (cultivated roses developed before 1867), and (3) modern roses (cultivated roses developed after 1867).
Wild roses grow as erect or climbing shrubs. Eglantine, or sweetbrier, is a well-known wild rose. Wild varieties bear thorns, and their flowers have one layer of five petals. Such one-layered blossoms are called singles. Most cultivated roses have double blossoms, each of which has many petals arranged in several layers. Some cultivated types lack thorns. Horticulturists breed most cultivated roses as hybrids, or as crosses between two different varieties.
Many old garden roses bloom once a year, usually in early summer. They include yellow briers, damask roses, moss roses, noisettes, tea roses, and many climbers. Other old garden roses bloom in early summer and again in fall. The best-known members of this class—called perpetual roses or summer-and-autumn roses—are the hybrid perpetuals, including the China roses.
Modern roses feature the everblooming hybrids, which flower almost constantly during the growing season. One popular group, the hybrid teas, typically have large blooms with many petals. They generally produce each bloom on a single long stem. Floribundas, another group, typically produce smaller blooms that grow in clusters on each stem. Grandifloras, developed by crossing hybrid teas and floribundas, often feature clusters of large blooms as well as single blooms. Other modern roses include miniature roses and shrub roses.
Climbing and rambler roses can grow on trellises and fences. Ramblers have more flexible canes than do climbers, and ramblers may be trained to grow into the branches of trees. Some climbers have large flowers, but true ramblers develop clusters of small flowers. Small-flowered climbers are usually the hardiest.
Shrub roses include a wide variety of plants. Horticulturists often divide them into classic, or old, shrubs and modern shrubs. Many shrubs, especially the classic types, may grow very large and spread widely. Modern shrubs often have more compact growth. Popular classic shrubs include hybrid musks and hybrid rugosas, while modern shrubs include ground cover roses and English roses.
Miniature roses, another popular group, range in height from 4 to 18 inches (10 to 46 centimeters). Some have flowers no larger than a small coin.
Cabbage roses bloom with flowers of many petals. These petals overlap in a way similar to the leaves of a head of cabbage. Moss roses, a type of cabbage rose, have stems that resemble moss and rough sepals (leaflike structures at the base of the flower).
Of the many rose varieties, some remain popular year after year. Others disappear because plant breeders produce better ones. Today, however, numerous old garden roses have become popular again, partly because people find them easier to maintain than many modern types.
Reproducing and growing roses.
Almost all new rose varieties start as seedlings. Yet cultivated roses with double blossoms seldom bear seeds. In such varieties, the parts of the flower that produce seeds have changed to extra petals. Thus horticulturists usually reproduce hybrid roses using one of two systems: grafting and own-rooting. Grafting, the most common method, involves taking the shoot of one rose and joining it to the rootstock of another. A rootstock is a root plus a stem. Growers often use own-rooting for miniatures, old garden roses, and shrub roses. This method simply involves reproducing the plants from cuttings, without the use of grafting. By the early 2000’s, some roses normally grown by grafting became available as own-root roses.
Many growers sell roses as bare-root plants, with their roots packed in moist material to prevent drying. Others sell roses in the containers in which they are grown. Gardeners should plant bare-root roses in early to mid-spring, before new shoots begin to grow, making sure to soak the roots in water before planting. Roses purchased in their containers can be planted from spring to early fall.
The location for a rose garden should get many hours of sunlight and should be sheltered from cold wind. A deep, rich, sandy loam that is slightly acidic usually provides the best soil for roses. But hybrid roses will also grow in less fertile sandy or gravelly soil. Rose beds must be well drained because the plants do not thrive in wet ground. Most soils benefit from adding fertilizer. Gardeners also should add such organic matter as compost or potting bark to improve drainage and aeration.
To plant a rose, dig a hole and mix organic matter and fertilizer into the soil. The hole should go deep enough to let the roots point downward and slant outward. Rose roots must not lie flat. Arrange the plants so the beds are easy to water and weed. Try to keep the beds 5 feet (1.5 meters) wide or less, and space the plants 11/2 to 21/2 feet (46 to 76 centimeters) apart. The exact distance depends on their spreading habits. Use a sharp steel rake or similar tool to keep the soil loose and the weeds out. Do not cultivate so deeply that you injure the roots.
The rose family
makes up an important group of flowering plants. The family also includes trees that produce such fruits as apples, pears, peaches, apricots, plums, and cherries. The rose family’s many ornamental trees and shrubs include the meadowsweet, mountain ash, rowan tree, and hawthorn.
Plants of the rose family produce regular flowers, flowers with all the same parts alike in shape and size. In most species, each flower has five petals atop a five-lobed part called the calyx.
